The Netizens and Community Networks
Presented at the Hypernetwork '95 Beppu Bay Conference
on November 24, 1995 as part of the Netizens section
By Michael F. Hauben
[Konotabewa goshothaie etadakey makotoni aregoto gosiemus.
Watashawa nihone kolalate tihen yorokonda emasu.]
The story of Netizens is an important one, and I am happy to
participate in a conference which acknowledges the value and role of
Netizens in the future of the Net. In conducting research 4 years ago
online to determine people's uses for the global computer
communications network, I became aware that there was a new social
institution, an electronic commons, developing. It was exciting to
explore this new social institution. Others online shared this
excitiment. I discovered from those who wrote me that the people I was
writing about were citizens of the Net, or Netizens.
At the age of 12 I started using local bbses in Michigan in
1985. (This is the same year that COARA was formed) After seven years
of participation on both local hobbiest-run computer bulletin boards
systems, and global Usenet, I began to research Usenet and the
Internet. I found these on-line discussion to be mentally invigorating
and welcoming of thoughtful comments, questions and discussion. People
were also friendly and considerate of others and their questions. This
was a new environment for me. Little thoughtful conversation was
encouraged to happen in my high school. Since my daily life did not
provide places and people to talk with about real issues and real world
topics, I wondered why the on-line experience encouraged such
discussions and consideration of others. Where did such a culture
spring from, and how did it arise? During my sophomore year of college
in 1992, I was curious to explore and better understand this new
on-line world.
As part of course work at Columbia University, I explored
these questions. One professor's encouragement helped me to use Usenet
and the Internet as places to conduct research. My research was real
participation in the online community by exploring how and why these
communications forums fuctioned. I posed questions on Usenet, mailing
lists and freenets. Along with these questions, I would attach some
worthwhile preliminary research. People respected my questions and
found the preliminary research helpful. The entire process was one of
mutual respect and sharing of research and ideas. A real notion of
'community' and 'participation' takes place. On the net people
willingly help each other and work together to define and address
issues important to them. These are often issues which the
conventional media would never cover.
One response to my research came from a Netizen from Montreal,
Jean-Francois Messier. He commented on how his connection to the
world via the Internet changed how he viewed the world. He said,
"...my attitudes to other peoples, races and religions
changed, since I had more chances to talk with other peoples around the
world. When first exchanging mail with people from Yellowknife,
Yukon, I had a real strange feeling : Getting message and chatting
with people that far from me. I noticed around me that a lot of people
have opinions and positions about politics that are for themselves,
without knowing others." (Netizens netbook, chapter 1)
He continued,
"Because I have a much broader view of the world now, I changed and am
more conciliant and peaceful with other people. Writing to someone you
never saw, changes the way you write...Telecommunications opened the
world to me and changed my visions of people and countries....." (IBID.)
My initial research concerned the origins and development of
the global discussion forum Usenet. Usenet developed out of the desire
of several graduate students in the United States to be part of a
cooperative technological community across campuses. As campus
connected to campus across state, across the nation, across the
continent and then across continents, a global Usenet communication
network emerged. People used Usenet because it is more powerful to be
in a large community than in isolation; communication with others
leads to broader ideas and cooperative activity is more productive
than competition. These principles emerged from the necessity of
sharing knowledge to sucessfully implement new technology; at the time
it was Unix. Much of the culture of open discussion and sharing of
technical experience spilled over into the non-technical discussion
groups.These basic principles were part of the evidence behind the
discovery of Netizens.
For my next paper, I wanted to explore the larger Net and what
it was and its significance. This is when my research uncovered
the remaining details that helped me to recognize the emergence of
Netizens. Netizens are the people who actively contribute on-line
towards the development of the Net. These people understand the value
of collective work and the communal aspects of public communications.
These are the people who actively discuss and debate topics in a
constructive manner, who e-mail answers to people and provide help to
new-comers, who maintain FAQ files and other public information
repositories, who maintain mailing lists, and so on. These are people
who discuss the nature and role of this new communications medium.
However, these are not all people. Netizens are not just anyone who
comes on-line, and they are especially not people who come on-line for
isolated gain or profit. They are not people who come to the Net
thinking it is a service. Rather they are people who understand it
takes effort and action on each and everyones part to make the Net a
regenerative and vibrant community and resource. Netizens are people who
decide to devote time and effort into making the Net, this new part of
our world, a better place. Lurkers are not Netizens, and vanity home
pages are not the work of Netizens. While lurking or trivial home
pages do not harm the Net, they do not contribute either.
The term Netizen has spread widely. The genesis comes from net
culture based on the original newsgroup naming conventions. Network
wide usenet groups included net.general for general discussion,
net.auto for automobile owners, net.bugs for discussion of unix bug
reports, and so on. People who used usenet would prefix things related
to the online world with the word NET similar to the newsgroup
terminology. So there would be references to net.gods, net.cops or
net.citzens. My research demonstrated that there were people active as
members of the network, which the term net citizen does not precisely
represent. The word citizen suggests a geographic or national
definition of social membership. The word Netizen reflects the new
non-geographicly basedsocial membership. So I contracted the phrase
net dot citizen to netizen.
Two general uses of the term netizen have developed. The first
is a broad usage to refer to anyone who uses the Net, for whatever
purpose. Thus, the term netizen has been prefixed in some uses with
the adjectives good or bad. The second usage is closer to my
understanding. This definition is used to describe people who care
about Usenet and the bigger Net and work towards building the
cooperative and collective nature which benefits the larger
world. These are people who work towards developing the Net. In this
second case, Netizen represents positive activity, and no adjective
need be used. Both uses have spread from the on-line community
appearing in newspapers, magazines, Television, books and other
off-line media. As more and more people join the on-line community and
contribute towards the nuturing of the Net and towards the development
of a great shared social wealth, the ideas and values of Netizenship
spread. But with the increasing commercialization and privitization of
the Net, Netizenship is being challenged. During such a period it is
valuable to look back at the pioneering vision that has helped make
the Net possible and examine what lessons it provides.
II. Licklider, the Visionary
The world of the Netizen was envisioned some twenty seven years
ago by J.C.R. Licklider and Robert Taylor. They understood the
computer as a communication device while others still treated it as an
arithmetic engine. Licklider was a social scientist who applied his
training to the question of technology. He brought to his leadership
of his division of the United States Govenment's Advanced Research
Projects Agency [InformationProcessing Techniques Office] a vision of
"the intergalactic computer network." Whenever he would spoke from
ARPA, he mentioned this vision. It is important to understand
Licklider's vision since he focused on the communicative and community
aspects of the future of computer networking. His ideas reflect the
true importance of the Net. Licklider and Taylor established several
principles from their observations of how the computer would play a
helpful role in human communication. These principles were:
1) Communication is defined as an interactive creative process.
2) Response times need to be short to make the "conversation" free and easy.
3) Larger networks would form out of smaller regional networks.
4) Communities would form out of affinity and common interests.
Licklider and Taylor focused on the Net being comprised of a
network of networks. While other researchers of the time focused on
the sharing of computing resources, Licklider and Taylor looked
towards the future when they wrote how a supercommunity would form out
of the connection of computer technology, both hardware and software
and people. They ephasized how each part of that community could
communicate with any other part. This is an important way to
understand the present Net and future hypernetwork. The networking of
various human connections quickly forms, changes its goals, disbands
and reforms into new collaborations. The fluidity of such group
dynamics leads to a quickening of the creation of new ideas. Groups
can form to discuss an idea, focus in or broaden out and reform to fit
the new ideas that have resulted from the process.
The virtual space created on non-commercial computer networks is
accessible universally. This space is accessible from the connections
that exist; whereas social networks in the physical world generally
are connected only by limited gateways. So the capability of
networking on computer nets overcomes limitations inherent in
non-computer social networks. Access to the Net, however, needs to be
universal for the Net to fully utilize the contribution each person
can represent. Once access is limited, the Net and those on the Net
lose the full advantage the Net can offer. Lastly the people on the
Net need to be active in order to bring about the best possible use of
the Network.
Licklider foresaw that the Net allows for people of common
interests, who are otherwise strangers, to communicate. Licklider
observed as the ARPANET spanned two continents. This physical
connection allowed for wider social collaborations to form. This was
the beginning of Computer Data networks facilitating connections of
people around the world. International connection coexists on the same
level with local connection.
The International on-line community is formed out of various
communities. Organizations like Universities, companies, lower
schools, hobbiest bbses and increasingly community networks are
contributing members. Special Bulletin Board software exists to
connect Personal Computer users to the Net. Prototype Community
Network Systems are forming around the world. For example: In
Cleveland - the cleveland Freenet, In New Zealand - the Wellington
Citynet, In California, the Santa Monica Public Electronic Network,
and of course here COARA. Access via these community systems can be as
easy as visiting the community library and membership is open to all
who live in the community.
The Net has only developed because of the hard work and voluntary
dedication of many people. It has grown because the Net is under the
control and power of the people at a bottom-level, and because these
people have over the years made a point to make it something
worthwhile. People's posts and contributions to the Net have been the
developing forces.
The old model of central distribution of information from the
Network Broadcasting or Publication Company is being questioned and
challenged. The top-down model of information being distributed by a
few for mass-consumption is no longer the only News. Usenet brings
the power of the reporter to the Netizen. People now have the ability
to broadcast their observations or questions around the world and have
other people respond.
The Net allows for the meeting of minds to form and develop
ideas. It brings people's thinking processes out of isolation and into
the open. Every user of the Net gains the role of being special and
useful. The fact that every user has his or her own opinions and
interests adds to the general body of specialized knowledge on the
Net. Each Netizen thus becomes a special resource valuable to the
Net. Each user contributes to the whole intellectual and social value
and possibilities of the Net.
J.C.R. Licklider believed that access to the then growing
information network should be made ubiquitous. He felt that the Net's
value would depend on high connectivity. In the article he wrote with
Robert Taylor, "The Computer as a Communication Device", they argue
that the impact upon society depends on how available the network is
to the society as a whole. They wrote:
"For the society, the impact will be good or bad depending mainly
on the question: Will `to be on line' be a privilege or a right? If
only a favored segment of the population gets a chance to enjoy the
advantage of `intelligence amplification,' the network may exaggerate
the discontinuity in the spectrum of intellectual opportunity."
The Net has made a valuable impact on human society. The
enhancement of people's lives provides the incentive needed for
providing access to all in society. Society will improve if net access
is made available to people as a whole and these newcomers are
introuced to the principles of Netizenship. Only if access is
universal will the Net itself truly advance. The ubiquitous connection
is necessary for the Net to encompass all possible resources.
Similar to past communications advances such as the printing
press, mail, and the telephone, the Global Computer Communications
Network has already fundamentally changed our lives. It is important
for you, as members of COARA, to both learn from and to help teach
others in this new global community. Welcome to on-line and become a
part of Usenet and the global on-line community.
References
----------
Licklider, J.C.R. and Robert Taylor. "The Computer as a
Communication Device." In _Science and Technology: For the
Technical Man in Management_ No. 76. April 1968. Pp. 21-31
The quote from Jean Francois Messier is from the Netizens
Netbook, which this speech is adapted from. The Netbook is
available from http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/